An affair is usually a sign a relationship is in trouble... but a disturbing number of women believe affairs can actually SAVE their marriage

• 1 in 3 said infidelity helped boost their marital sex life
• 73.1% of unfaithful women feel neglected by their husbands
  
• An affair makes it easier to stay in marriage say 57%

By Ruth Styles

Published: 08:28 EDT, 7 May 2013 | Updated: 11:10 EDT, 7 May 2013

For most of us, an affair is the sign of a relationship that's faltering. But according to a new poll, a shocking one in three women say that having an extramarital fling can actually help keep their marriage alive.

Of those who do have affairs, 73 per cent said that they do because they feel neglected by their spouse or partner.

Among the women who said that neglect was the reason for their infidelity, many also cited not having their emotional needs met - a factor that played a significant role in their decision to find someone else.

Infidelity: According to the new survey, 71 per cent of women cheat because they feel emotionally neglected

'This is no surprise,' says Noel Biderman, founder of dating site ashleymadison.com. 'Many women lack attention and affection and it’s miserable to feel lonely within your own marriage.

'The reality is that many people can’t leave their partners for financial reasons and women in particular are usually reluctant to sacrifice their family life.

'So they are taking care of their needs outside marriage. They’re stepping into the male arena when it comes to infidelity.'

Relationship expert, Tracey Cox, comments: 'Sometimes an affair can be a wake up call for a marriage and jolt one or both partners into realising just how important they are to each other and how devastating it would be to lose them.

'But in most cases, affairs devastate relationships. I would never, ever suggest an affair as way of improving marriage because affairs break the trust bond and in most cases, it never recovers.

'The way to solve problems in a relationship is to talk about them and confront them before there's the temptation to play away.'

Along with adultery and a growing number of hours spent in the office, 67 per cent of women polled revealed their reason for being unfaithful was down to less than spectacular sex with their husbands.

LeAnn Rimes had a fling with (now husband) Eddie Cibrian while Kristen Stewart cheated with Rupert Sanders

However, for these women, it would seem that some good does come out of having an affair: 32 per cent said that cheating gave their sexual relationship with their spouse a boost.

'Men typically reach their sexual peak in their 20s. For women it is later, in their 30s or 40s when they feel more comfortable with their bodies,' added Biderman.

'This discrepancy is one reason for the lack of sex that these women are feeling. Everyone wants to be desired, who can blame these women for looking elsewhere?'

Denise Robertson, This Morning's resident agony aunt, recently spoke out about infidelity within marriage, saying: 'If a single person wants to have sex with 74 people in a week, it's none of my business.

'If a married couple agree they both want to have sex elsewhere, it's none of my business. But when one person in a marriage wants to sleep with someone else but the other doesn't, it can cause great pain.

'If your marriage is a prison, you should get out,' she says. 'I'm all in favour of getting a divorce and having a new beginning, if that's the right thing to do.

'No one should be trapped in a marriage they consider to be a prison.'

'But I know from the letters I receive the agony that it causes when one member of a couple is unfaithful.'